They have tentacles coming out of their heads, live underground for
months on end, do not need to feed for up to 10 years, and survived
whatever killed the dinosaurs. The Zoological Society of London in the
UK has launched the top 100 list of the world's weirdest, most
wonderful and rarest amphibians.

ADVERTISEMENT

"They're
extraordinary survivors," says Helen Meredith of ZSL. "Ninety percent
of our top 100 amphibians survived the extinction of the dinosaurs."
Yet they are also in dire need of help to ensure they will continue to
survive.

Using the World Conservation Union's
list of endangered amphibians and a complete family tree of amphibians,
the group has determined which amphibians are rare and threatened with
extinction, as well as genetically distinct.